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Team USA's Tiger Woods walks with members of his team and Team Europe and their loved ones during a closing ceremony after the final day of the 39th Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club September 30, 2012 in Medinah, Illinois. Europe produced the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history to reel in the United States and retain the trophy. (credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GettyImages)

Tiger Woods’ poor performance during the 2012 Ryder Cup allowed Europe to mount a dramatic comeback on the final day of the event

The USA were heavy favourites going into the final day of the Ryder Cup thanks to a 10-6 lead that had been established, although the advantage could have been even greater if Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker had managed to score some points together.

Woods’ form was distinctly patchy in Medinah and his failure to beat Francesco Molinari in the singles meant that the American scored no points for his team from the four matches in which he was involved.

While the blame can be apportioned to various members of the US team for defeat, not to mention the fact that Europe produced a spirited display, it has been revealed that Woods actually apologised to the US Ryder Cup rookies after the tournament.

According to Golf Channel contributor Tim Rosaforte, Brandt Snedeker told him that Woods took the four rookies -- Snedeker, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner and Webb Simpson -- into a room and apologized for his performance on Sunday evening.

"I had an opportunity to earn three points in team sessions and didn't do that," Woods said. "My point in the singles didn't matter when all was said and done. Steve Stricker and I were sent out to win points and we didn't do it. That was frustrating.

"It has been difficult, there is no doubt. We held a great lead and couldn't manage to win from a perfect position going into Sunday. That was tough. Some guys were pretty bombed out by what happened. We had guys out early on Sunday to get points and that didn't happen. It was then left to us at the back but it came down to the situation where my point didn't matter. It was a tough situation, no doubt."

"That's because you weren't in the team room, you weren't in the team," answered the world No 2 to the claim of a shortage of collective care. "It has been the same since I first played in 1997. That hasn't changed. We have always been a great team unit. No loss feels good, whether that is in a President's Cup or Ryder Cup.

"It would be a huge honour for me to be captain of a Ryder Cup team. Hopefully it will not happen in the near future because I would like to play on more teams, but certainly one day, when my career is slowing down or over, it would be huge to be part of a Ryder Cup from the captaincy side of things."